Starship Iwatobi
by alchemypotato
Summary: Space Opera AU for Free!
1. Prologue

Haruka Nanase was lying in the tub in his cabin, completely submerged. Even with his head under the water he could still hear the ship's engines humming. It wasn't as loud as he had expected but he knew it would take some getting used to. He was thinking about being much younger and living on the colony. He thought of the swim team.

Just then his cabin-mate and best friend Makoto Tachibana burst into the bathroom and Haru popped out of the water, shaking water out of his hair. Makoto was smiling down at him with a hand extended to help him out.

"Good morning Haru-Chan," Makoto said.

Haru didn't like when Makoto called him that.

"I told you to lay off the -chan."

Makoto slowly pulled Haru out of the bathtub and Haru watched as Makoto's beautiful green eyes (that always made him look a little sleepy) looked down his torso until he spotted Haru's swim trunks.

"You're wearing your swim trunks?" Makoto asked.

Haru wasn't sure why this surprised him and simply said "You're gonna be late."

"That's my line," Makoto responded.

They had barely been on the Starship Iwatobi for a week and it was already time for their first training session. They were expected to report to Lieutenant Miho Amakata within the hour. After Haru had grilled some fish (and had to listen to Makoto's exasperation over the fact that he still hadn't taken his swim trunks off and had merely thrown his apron on over them) they walked down to the training deck.

Haru tried his best to be interested in what Miss Ama-chan (as they had quickly come to call her) had instructed them during training but his mind, as always, was with the water. The Starship Iwatobi was comfortable and they would see many new sights on their journey across the stars. But mostly Haru wanted to see water.

After training Makoto invited Haru to eat lunch with him on the upper deck where they could stare out at the stars but on the way there they ran into a smaller boy with yellow hair.

"Haru-chan, Mako-chan! It's been forever! I'm training on this starship too" he called up at them.

Haru and Makoto looked at each other in disbelief.

"Nagisa!" they said in unison.

Haru had only been thinking about Nagisa a few hours back. He had been a member of the swim team and a good friend. They all went to the upper deck together and reminisced for awhile. Haru tried to stay focused on conversation but the more he thought about the old days the more he just wanted to swim again.

As Haru and Makoto were about to head back to their cabin Nagisa asked them to stop.

"Guys, wait! I wanted to tell you something."

Haru and Makoto turned around.

"I've heard a rumor... that this ship has a pool."

Haru's heart skipped a beat and he started to feel warm all over. A pool... on the starship. And with Nagisa here (as well as Makoto who never left his side) it was beginning to feel like old times.


	2. Kou

It was the most disgusting thing Kou had ever seen. It was a green, prickly mass of flesh that was oozing a thick fluid from tiny holes all over. Miss Ama-chan had told them what it was called but Kou was too distracted to pay attention. She was thinking of her brother, Rin.

"Tell me about the swim club, Gou!" her friend Chigusa Hanamura whispered in her ear, startling her a little.

"Not right now... and it's Kou!" Kou replied. Her name was, technically speaking, Gou but she preferred the more feminine Kou. Somehow Chigusa never had been able to remember this, much to Kou's agitation.

The green life form had begun to rapidly expand and contract. Chigusa and the other cadets that had come with Miss Ama-chan to the planet's surface backed away from it but Kou was focused, trying to think of a way to get her brother to swim with his old friends again.

"Cadet Matsuoka, you should back away from there," Miss Ama-chan warned. Kou finally backed away, right in time as the green life form exploded, leaving disgusting goo all over the rock it had been seated on.

Lieutenant Miho Amakata (commonly referred to by all the cadets as Miss Ama-chan) walked up to the rock, clumsily pulling out a pen-like tool to analyze a sample of the goo. She wore the white body suit of a lieutenant that had the lieutenant insignia on the collar but she didn't act like a lieutenant. Most of the officers on the ship were uptight or in some cases cold, but not Miss Ama-chan. Kou thought she was nice, albeit a little odd. And she was the one who knew about the secret swimming pool. She had been happy to tell Kou about it when Kou mentioned wanting to see Rin revert to the passionate boy he had once been, instead of the cold and rude man he had become. Miss Ama-chan was happy to supervise the swim club's secret activities as long as she didn't have to wear a swimsuit which Kou thought was an oddly specific request.

"Oh! The scanner indicates the fluid would be a severe irritant to our skin. I guess it's good we have on our body suits, although they don't protect our faces..." Miss Ama-chan stopped to think for a moment then smiled and said: "From now on let's wear our helmets any time we go down to the surface of a planet even if the air is breathable."

That evening, when Kou and Chigusa were back in their cabin on the ship Kou finally told Chigusa all the details of the swim club. By chance Kou had bumped into Nagisa Hazuki (who kept calling her Gou-chan) and told him about the secret swim club. He had then met up with his old friends Haru and Makoto and informed them. Kou agreed to manage them and use the relay network to setup tournaments that could be held at various stations or even planets, although never on the ship itself as it would take all of Miss Ama-chan's best efforts to keep their training in the pool a secret.

Kou made no secret of the fact that she was hoping to get her brother to participate. But he was stationed on another ship. But maybe if she put the word out there he would bite at the chance to swim with Haru again.

"Is it really about your brother, Gou? Or do you just want to admire their physiques?"

Kou smiled at the mention of the boys' physiques and thought of those glorious muscled bodies. But that was just a bonus of managing the swim club; the real reason was Rin, no matter what Chigusa thought.


	3. The Butterfly

Rei Ryugazaki woke suddenly in his cabin. The lights were flickering and as Rei got out of bed he found himself falling to the floor as the ship shifted hard. The sounds of explosions surrounded. Rei found it hard to breathe but he pulled himself up and struggled as he suited up in his uniform (which was custom made with colorful stripes highlighting the solid black.) The uniform fit well on his body and was tight but not uncomfortable. They were designed to be strong and adapted to weather and temperature to keep you safe while on any planet. Rei strapped on his belt and holstered his laser pistol. This was the moment he had been training for.

He burst out his cabin and ran as fast as he could toward the command deck. He turned a corner and suddenly something very heavy smashed into his side, sending him flying. His glasses came off and for a moment he couldn't see the thing that was standing over him, quickly approaching. He grabbed them and put them back on found himself face to face with a large robot. It was vaguely human shaped although its proportions were definitely wrong; its head and hands were both too large and its eyes glowed red. It had taken damage to its midsection and it was sparking.

Rei took a moment to think about the angle he would need to shoot at to hit it directly in the damaged area (which seemed to be the only obvious weakness.) He positioned his right arm and hand and waited for the monstrosity to move into position. He counted slowly and closed his eyes. He fired.

The robot made a mechanical howl. Bolts of electricity went up and down its body and it fell to floor a heap of broken metal and wires. Rei took a sigh of relief and suddenly everything was white and he realized he was in the simulation tube. The tube raised and he found himself face to face with his smiling instructors.

Rei was surprised at how quickly he was able to realize that this was reality and the robot attack was just a simulation. It was much like waking from a dream. Although dreams didn't normally hurt. Rei's muscles were sore like he had really used them. But he had been warned about that.

After he was completely out of the tube his instructors heaped praise upon him. For Rei's part he was proud of his shot but they seemed more interested in his determination but he felt like he had done what anyone would do. And he didn't even understand the point of the combat simulations. It had been fifty years since humanity had been involved in any sort of conflict. There didn't seem to be a point.

As they pulled Rei out of the tube and removed the sensors from his head and body (which was completely naked as the simulation tube worked better if there was little risk of confusion) he noticed that there was an extra person in the room who wasn't normally there. With his blonde hair and pink eyes Rei instantly recognized him as Nagisa Hazuki. Nagisa was smiling big at Rei. Rei looked away, embarrassed. What was he doing here?

Rei did his best to ignore Nagisa's presence and got dressed and exited the lab quickly. But Nagisa was waiting outside.

"Hey Rei-chan!" Nagisa said.

"Rei-chan!?" Rei called back in surprise.

"You can call me Nagisa."

"I won't. We're not that close."

"Join the swim club and we'll become close."

"The... swim club?" Rei asked.

"Yeah! Me and my friends Haru-chan and Mako-chan started it! But we need a fourth member."

"Why would you want me? I can't even swim. I'm good at math and science and I'm being trained for combat. I don't see how I would be a good fit."

"You have a girly name and also because you were beautiful."

Rei was taken aback for a moment. "Huh?"

"When you were fighting that robot... you looked beautiful."

"Well... I was just following theory and calculation."

"You can use theory and calculation to be good at swimming."

"That's impossible. No one can look good while swimming." Rei said.

Rei started to leave but Nagisa shouted "Wait!"

Rei pushed his glasses up and turned around to face the shorter boy.

"Just come watch Haru-chan swim," Nagisa pleaded.

To his own surprise Rei found himself in the secret swimming facilities. The ship blueprints strangely only acknowledged this area as extra storage. Rei couldn't even understand why the ship would have a pool and he understood even less why they would pretend it didn't exist. The pool was beautiful and blue and Rei suspected it was kept clean with nano-bots. Rei didn't even understand why he was here. He supposed it was something about the way that Nagisa told him he looked beautiful.

The three other boys were already there and in their swimming trunks. Haru was preparing to dive. Haru, as Nagisa had informed Rei, only swam freestyle. As Haru dived Rei found himself struck by how beautiful Haru looked.

"See I told you. Haru-chan is an amazing swimmer," Nagisa said.

Rei realized that Haru didn't use theory or calculation. It was something stronger... much stronger. And he wondered if he could ever swim like that. Could he ever be that beautiful? As Haru climbed out of the pool Rei went up to him.

"I want to be like you Nanase-senpai. I want that kind of freedom."

Haru looked directly at Rei and said: "It's not freedom. It's freestyle."

"Freestyle? Well anyway, I would like to formally join the swim club."

Haru seemingly disinterested just said "If you want to swim, then go ahead," and looked away.

Rei then looked at Nagisa and said "However, you were the one who invited me to join. I expect you to take responsibility Nagisa-kun."

Nagisa was thrilled and threw an arm around Rei. "Sure," he said.

That night Rei was alone in his cabin and he was daydreaming about Haru and how beautiful he was when he swam freestyle when he received a message from the commander of the secret combat training initiative.

"Good evening, Ryugazaki. I just wanted to inform you that we're very pleased with your progress and we'd like to increase your training... maybe find out what you're really capable of. Be prepared in the morning."

That night Rei found that he couldn't sleep.


	4. Stranded!

Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana were on assignment on a planet the Alliance had dubbed Paradise IV. The planet was half desert and half shimmering oasis. Currently, Haru and Makoto were walking across a long stretch of desert. They had been walking northwest for about an hour. Their assignment was simple to test survivable conditions in the desert during the hours when the sun was at its peak. They were allowed their location and positioning monitors, their uniforms (which were pre-equipped with hydration functioning) and nothing else since it was already determined that the air was breathable and the planet uninhabited.

Makoto could tell that Haru was unhappy. The desert was pretty much the antithesis of Haru's idea of a vacation. But Makoto had tried to remind Haru that this wasn't a vacation as the shuttle had dropped them off. But Haru was only interested in pushing forward to get the lush oasis that awaited them. The plan was to arrive at the oasis and signal for the shuttle to come back and pick them up.

Makoto kept trying to stay next to Haru but Haru insisted and walking in front. Privately, Makoto thought this wasn't such a bad thing as it gave him a nice view. But in truth he wanted to stand next to Haru, his best friend and partner. Every since they had first met as kids Makoto had felt truly devoted to Haru. When Haru decided to sign up with the space academy at eighteen Makoto didn't hesitate to sign up with him, even though in truth he would've preferred staying back home on the station.

For the longest time Makoto had tried to convince himself that he only saw Haru as a friend but it was this decision, to follow Haru into the stars, that made him realize that he was in love with Haru. Even still he didn't believe Haru could ever return his affection. Makoto could think of no more a perfect sight than watching Haru swim. And, sure, everyone knew that but not the way Makoto did. Haru was only ever truly at home in the water but Makoto sometimes thought, when they were alone, that maybe Haru felt that way with him.

After a couple of hours of walking they finally spotted the oasis. Haru instantly began running towards the oasis forcing Makoto to call out to him, "Haru! Slow down!"

It was no use. Haru wouldn't stop until he reached the water. If only Makoto could stop him and remind him that Miss Ama-chan had explicitly warned them that the water was not safe (although she failed to specify what sort of effect it would have on humans.)

Upon reaching the oasis Haru quickly pulled off his uniform as quickly as he could, revealing his swim suit was on underneath, a fact that didn't remotely surprise Makoto. Makoto wanted to warn Haru before he dove into the beautiful blue pool that lay at the center of the oasis but he found himself momentarily distracted by Haru's flawless form. Makoto called out Haru's name a moment too late and Haru slid into the water gracefully like always did.

Makoto sighed and sat on a rock. A small creature that resembled a kitten crawled out of a bush and Makoto pet it for a moment while he signaled for the shuttle. But the shuttle wasn't responding. In fact the signal wasn't even reaching the ship which given the massive range the locators were known for meant the ship was nowhere near the planet anymore.

Makoto ran to the pool's edge and cried out, "Haru!"

Haru swam to the edge, pulled himself up and shook the water out of his hair, the way he always did.

"What is it Mako?" he asked.

"The ship, Haru! It's gone."

Haru looked up at Makoto in dismay and climbed out of the pool. He sighed and said, "They'll be back. We just need to wait."

Makoto wanted Haru's confidence at that moment as they sat down on the large rock next to each other.

"I meant to warn you, Haru. Miss Ama-chan said the water wasn't safe."

"She was wrong. I'm fine."

Makoto had complete confidence in Miss Ama-chan despite her quirky personality which led some to believe she was incompetent. Makoto knew better. There was arguably no one on the Starship Iwatobi more qualified for their position than Amakata Miho.

As daylight begun to fade Haru laid back on the rock the sunlight glistening on his torso. Makoto went ahead and lay next to him. They had had many sleepovers together growing up and were very accustomed to sharing each other's personal space.

After a moment Makoto spoke, "How come you never want to talk about Rin?" Makoto asked. Haru didn't respond. Rin was a subject that Haru refused to approach. Makoto had always tried to be respectful of Haru's feelings but he worried he had internalized too much pain that one day might overwhelm him.

Eventually daylight faded completely. They had barely spoken this whole time and Makoto didn't understand how Haru could remain so calm. Finally, Haru spoke: "I'm cold, Mako."

Makoto felt a rush of panic. Perhaps, this was what Miss Ama-chan was worried about. He could see that Haru was shivering slightly.

"Are you okay, Haru?" Makoto asked in fear.

"Yes. I just need to get warm. Mako... will you warm me up?"

"Of course," Makoto answered and he wrapped his arms around Haru from the side as Haru's shivering increased.

This wasn't the first time they had held each other but it had never been like this, so alone with only each other to lean on. To Makoto's surprise Haru turned and put his head on Makoto's chest, right where his heart was pounding. Makoto felt himself warm all over and the groin region of his uniform became uncomfortably tight. Haru looked up Makoto, the moon reflected in his deep blue eyes and he pulled his mouth up to Makoto's and kissed him slowly and deeply. Now it was Makoto who was trembling as Haru hands began to explore Makoto's body until one of them located his erection. It was at that moment when the low hum and bright lights of the shuttle suddenly appeared.

Both men pulled away in shock. Makoto feared what might be going through Haru's mind at that moment. He could accept if Haru didn't truly return his feelings but he couldn't bear the thought of losing his friendship.

The shuttle landed and Miss Ama-chan exited. Both men had regained their composure as quickly as they could but Makoto still had to try and cover himself or at the very least turned his pelvis away. He explained to Miss Ama-chan that Haru had gone for a swim and she quickly injected Haru with something to relieve his chill.

On the shuttle ride back to the ship everyone was silent. At first when Makoto asked why they weren't in range no one would answer. But Miss Ama-chan finally slid close to Makoto and whispered in his ear the truth: the Starship Iwatobi had been called into combat on a space station a few light years away. Makoto stared at her in horror. Surely, the days of strife for the Alliance were long past.


	5. War

Nagisa was excitedly riding the elevator up to the higher decks. War had come to the galaxy in one giant rush of terror. The swim club had effectively disbanded simply because no one had the time for it anymore. Haru had become distant to everyone, except maybe Makoto. Rei was constantly being taken on missions to infiltrate enemy ships and destroy robots (a task he was very good at.)

Even Gou and her friend, whose name Nagisa could never remember, were busy with missions with Miss Ama-chan. Nagisa generally found himself being relegated to helping out around the ship. And that was fine. Nagisa loved to help in any way he could.

The official word was that the robots had been created and deployed by one of the eight major Alliance factions. Unfortunately, no one was sure who. The robots just came and came with no signs of slowing and no hints at their makers. It was true that not all of the factions were being hit evenly but the two factions (including the faction that the Iwatobi had come from) were distant enough from the core planets that it was believable that they weren't the perpetrators.

So Nagisa had found himself alone a great deal of the time. He daydreamed a lot about Rei. Whenever, Rei came back from combat he just went and secluded himself in his cabin. No matter how much Nagisa was interested in spending time with him Rei always wanted to be alone. Nagisa wanted to turn back time to those happy three months when the swim club was actually coming together and he and Rei were growing closer. They actually had a few small competitions with another ship while they were docked at a station for a few weeks but it was never much more than that. And Gou was totally unsuccessful at reaching out to her brother, Rin.

Today the Starship Iwatobi was being joined by members of the crew from another ship, the Samezuka which was destroyed in a brutal attack a few weeks back. And this one day everyone would be back on the ship, which meant a chance to see Rei, although it might be brief. The elevator dinged and with a whoosh the door opened.

He found himself in a large auditorium like room with almost all of the ship's crew in attendance, standing in front of the small stage where the crew from the Samezuka was to be introduced. He quickly found his friends and stood next to Rei. Rei turned to look at him and Nagisa grinned widely at him. Surprisingly, Rei returned his smile before turning away and pushing his glasses up. Makoto turned around, smiled and said, "Hello, Nagisa-kun."

"Hi Mako-chan! Hi Haru-chan!" Nagisa said, although Haru didn't acknowledge him. Nagisa also saw Gou and her friend and called out (much the annoyance of all the other officers), "Hello Gou-chan!"

Gou sharply turned her head and said, "Kou!" Nagisa leaned his head and smiled in apology but he didn't feel like she read it that way. He decided he would work harder to remember she preferred Kou. After a minute Lieutenant Sasabe walked on staged. Nagisa was surprised to not see the Captain on stage.

"Hello, everyone. I would like to introduce the new additions to our crew along with their ranks." Sasabe-san motioned just off stage to three individuals who quickly marched on stage. Immediately everyone gasped. Nagisa couldn't believe his eyes.

"First we have Captain Seijuro Mikoshiba who is taking over command." Captain Mikoshiba was tall with slicked back red hair and golden eyes, quite the site to behold Nagisa thought. But then Mikoshiba-san lifted his arm to salute and exposed that it was completely cybernetic, no doubt a necessary repair after suffering the loss of his arm.

Next Sasabe-san introduced a small young man with short gray hair who he referred to as Cadet Aiichiro Nitori. Something about Nitori-chan reminded Nagisa of himself, especially when he saw how he looked at the next individual to be introduced, the one that Nagisa recognized.

"First Lieutenant Rin Matsouka!" Kou's brother stepped forward, scowling. He was not the passionate young boy he once was. There was a bitterness that didn't used to exist that was obvious just by looking at his face and posture.

Afterwards there was some fraternizing amongst the officers and Nagisa was happy to see Kou and Rin finally reunited. He talked to Haru and Makoto for a moment but he saw Rei trying to sneak off and ran after him, just barely managing to get into the elevator with him. They stood there silently but Nagisa found himself slowly inching over to Rei who tried his best to inch away in kind.

"I've missed you Rei-chan." Rei said nothing for awhile but then suddenly he hit some buttons on the keypad that controlled the elevator which stopped it.

Rei hung his head and said, "I've missed you too Nagisa-chan."

Nagisa smiled big at the use of his first name. Rei had never been willing to use it before.

"I'm sorry if I've been distant," Rei said. "The missions... take a lot out of me. The things I've seen." Nagisa could see tears were streaming down Rei's face.

Impulsively Nagisa moved forward and hugged Rei tightly. At first Rei tried to pull away but he quickly relented and hugged Nagisa back. They stood there a moment embracing, Nagisa's heart nearly pounding out of his chest. Then slowly Nagisa looked up at Rei and moved his mouth onto Rei's mouth and began to kiss him passionately.

Rapidly Nagisa began to move his hands all over Rei, who was trembling, even though Nagisa could see he was very aroused. Suddenly, Rei pulled away.

"My cabin," he said and reactivated the elevator.

The elevator proceeded upward and once it opened they dashed to Rei's cabin. Once inside Nagisa pushed Rei onto the bed and straddled on top of him. Nagisa leaned forward and kissed Rei some more while a hand undid Rei's belt and slid inside his pants to find his hard penis which he then stroked slowly as Rei moaned.

"Stop," Rei said and Nagisa did. Rei then rolled Nagisa over and quickly undid his belt and pulled down his pants. His mouth quickly found Nagisa's penis. At first he just licked up the shaft but then he put it in his mouth and began to suck. Nagisa was shocked to find that Rei was so skilled. He assumed Rei had likely done research on the matter like he did everything. Knowledge was Rei's favorite weapon. And right now he was applying his knowledge very well.

Nagisa came much faster than he expected and Rei moved his head back up to Nagisa's head and kissed him some more while Nagisa found Rei's hard shaft with his right hand. While they kissed Nagisa frantically stroked Rei's penis until he came as well. Rei collapsed next to Nagisa, panting heavily.

For a few minutes they just laid there silently, both in mutual awe of what had just occurred. Finally, Rei asked Nagisa to stay with him that night, with the caveat that he didn't want to discuss the war. Nagisa agreed on both counts.

In the morning Nagisa had expected Rei to be gone but instead he was still there and had made breakfast (squid to Nagisa's surprise.) As they ate breakfast Rei finally spoke about the war: "We're not going to win. The robots are far too intelligent... and brutal. And they repair quickly. And they learn. Unless, we can figure out where they are coming from there's no hope."

"Of course there is, Rei-chan," Nagisa said. Rei looked at him confused.

"There's you. I've seen you when you fight. You are beautiful... just like you were beautiful last night." Rei turned away, blushing.

"If there's hope it's you. I believe in you. They call you the butterfly right? Well, I believe in you, beautiful butterfly."


	6. Mission

It seemed, to Kou, that this war would never end. She found herself constantly worrying. She mostly worried about her brother, Rin. He was constantly away and in danger. She had barely had a chance to say hello to him since he joined the Iwatobi. She also worried about her friends from the swim club. She worried about Miss Ama-chan, who was finding herself getting pulled closer and closer to combat missions. She worried about her friend, Chigusa Hanamura (who she sometimes called Hana-chan) and her rapidly changing demeanor.

Chigusa's inquisitive attitude had drifted away in favor of a more focused and intense personality. And she worked out a lot. Chigusa believed that eventually she and Kou would be asked to fight. Kou, personally, had never been the athletic type, even though she was strongly attracted to athletic bodies. She still admired Chigusa's dedication and privately she admired the results of her dedication as well. She found the changes in her friend's body quite appealing.

She had also spent a great deal of time admiring the body of Captain Mikoshiba. Whenever they were in the same room with him suddenly Chigusa's old personality would bubble up to the surface and she would start whispering things about the captain in Kou's ear while Kou drifted off into fantasy about what he looked like with his uniform off. Even the captain's cybernetic arm was built with gorgeous synthetic musculature that Kou would love to get her hands on. And the captain had definitely noticed her. He even called her by her first name, which none of the higher ranking officers did.

Kou spent many nights contemplating the captain's body before she drifted off to sleep. But she knew a relationship with a superior officer wouldn't be appropriate. That didn't stop her from dreaming however.

One evening Kou was resting in her bunk. Chigusa was doing sit-ups on the floor of their cabin. She was wearing a beige sports-bra and light-brown shorts. Her brownish-orange hair was up in a bun as usual but it wasn't as high as it used to be since she'd started cutting it a little shorter. While Kou quietly watched Chigusa a chime rang indicating someone was at their cabin door. Chigusa popped up off the floor and quickly made her way to the door. Kou leaned up admire the tone of Chigusa's calves. They were her favorite part of Chigusa's body.

When the door opened it revealed Miss Ama-chan standing outside, clearly looking distressed. Kou got out of bed and said, "Lieutenant Amakata. Come inside." Miss Ama-chan nodded and entered, solemnly. She sat down at their table with her head hung down.

"I'm afraid I must ask something terrible of you both," she said.

"What is it, Miss Ama-chan?" Chigusa asked.

"The captain requires you for a mission. You'll have to infiltrate an enemy ship."

"What?" Chigusa asked. "Why us? We have no experience in infiltration."

"We are spread thin right now. There just aren't enough free hands. You are my brightest and talented cadets not to mention we ran the simulations with every possible combination and the highest success rates involved the both of you."

"We'll do it!" Kou called out. She was shocked at her own courage. Miss Ama-chan looked at her, obviously shocked as well. Chigusa at first seemed taken aback but her blue-green eyes fixed on Kou and nodded firmly.

"You'll be part of a small team. Going with you is Rei Ryugazaki and Captain Mikoshiba himself."

Kou warmed a little at the thought of spending quality time with the captain before remembering that this would be no time for fun.

"The captain and Lieutenant Ryugazaki will handle any combat. The two of you need to manage the tech side of things. We believe this ship has data which may reveal who is responsible for this invasion of robot forces," Miss Ama-chan said.

"Then we must do it," Chigusa added.

"Okay. You both need to be ready at 0600 hours," Miss Ama-chan, before getting up and leaving the cabin.

For a moment Kou and Chigusa remained silent and seated at the table after the lieutenant left. Finally, Chigusa let out a small sigh and went back to her bunk to sleep. Kou found it hard to sleep that night. And once she finally fell asleep she had a nightmare.

She was back home on the station where they all grew up, only she was a child again. Everything was being destroyed by robots. Their home was ripped to shreds. They killed everyone until at last they found her and Rin hiding under a table. A robotic monstrosity yanked Rin out and two glowing red eyes glared at him and Kou screamed as it pulled an arm back and it thrust its hand, which purely consisted of four clawed fingers made of metal, forward and... Kou awoke.

Tears were in her eyes but she wiped them away. To her own surprise she wasn't scared or sad; she was angry. She had failed her brother. He might be her big brother but she needed to protect him. She promised to herself that she would do whatever it took to ensure that this mission was a success.

She popped out of bed and headed to the bathroom where Chigusa had just got done showering. A short while later Kou was out of the bathroom and they ate breakfast together in silence. At 0600 hours Miss Ama-chan arrived to take them on the mission.

On the shuttle she was surprised to find Rei and the captain in high spirits. Rei had been spending a great deal of time with Nagisa Hazuki lately and it seemed to be having a very positive effect on him. She wondered what they were getting up to. The captain on the other hand had been smiling at her a lot. Kou smiled back and wondered what he was thinking when he smiled at her.

"Gou-kun," Seijuro said, gesturing her over to the seat next to him.

"Please don't call me that," Kou said as she sat next to him. Even though she appreciated that he wanted to use her first name she would prefer he call her Kou.

"Okay. Sorry, Kou-chan," the captain said, his smile never leaving his face. Any other time and Kou would've been thrilled to get this close the captain, but not today.

"How is Rin?" Kou asked.

"He's... fine," the captain answered, his smile fading a little. Kou could tell he wasn't telling the truth.

"I worry about him a lot," Kou said.

"He's strong. I wouldn't worry about him too much."

"I can't help it. He's my brother."

Kou sat there quietly as minutes passed. She found herself admiring the captain's cybernetic arm.

"Would you like to touch," he asked abruptly, startling her.

"Yes, I would love to," she said without hesitation. Kou put a hand on it and slowly worked her way down it. It was basically designed to be functionally like a real arm. But it was stronger, harder and colder than a real arm. Kou was impressed with the beauty of it and how perfect the muscles were. Once she had stopped the captain studied her thoughtfully.

"Do you want to know how I lost it?" the captain asked.

"I... have no desire to know but if you want to talk about it I will listen," Kou said.

"The Samezuka was heavily attacked. It was brutal. Probably the worst attack we've suffered. I was trying to protect one of the cadets... one of those metal monsters ripped it off... and then they killed the cadet in front of me."

Kou was horrified and she flashed back to her nightmare and she pictured Rin as the cadet.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That was too much."

"No," Kou said smiling at him. "It was okay. I'm happy to listen. War is terrible but I can't hide myself from all the horror. Not when people I love might die."

"You should let me cook you dinner in my cabin sometime," the captain said.

"No," Kou answered. "It wouldn't be appropriate. You're my superior." The captain sighed and nodded, clearly disappointed. Kou was also disappointed because he didn't insist that they ignore the rules. But the captain clearly had respect for the rules. It was a shame because Kou would've loved to get a closer look at his non-cybernetic parts.

For the rest of the trip no one said anything else. Right before they reached the ship everyone fully suited up while the shuttle activated the stealth shield. Kou was quite fond of Rei's rainbow streaked uniform although she was also enamored with Chigusa's light pink uniform that was adorned with roses that were only a few shades darker themselves. Mostly she was fond of the way the uniforms showed off the exquisite tone and form of her teammate's bodies.

The ship itself was in standby and most of its robotic personnel would be out on attacks (or destroyed.) Deep range scanners had consistently been picking up a signal from this ship for weeks. The signal was a garbled mess and nearly impossible to decipher. But they could at least figure out that this ship was an important data center for the robotic hordes and that presented the only chance they've had so far to get a clue on who was responsible.

The shuttle quietly attached itself to the bottom of the ship. They should safely remain undetected as lasers slowly cut a new opening into the ship which the four of them entered after ensuring that know robots were nearby. As far as they could tell the ship was fairly empty but there were some signs of activity on different decks. Rei and Captain Mikoshiba were assigned to take out any robots while Kou and Chigusa made their way to the control deck and download any important information related to the robot fleet.

To everyone's surprise the ship had breathable air. Given that robots have no need for oxygen it meant that humans were sometimes on this vessel, which wasn't exactly shocking but was definitely troubling. The inside of the ship was dark, cold and lifeless a far cry from the bright warmth of the Iwatobi. The group proceeded cautiously as they crept down an empty hallway. Rei led the way with his laser pistol readied in case of attack.

They exited the hallway and entered a large room with a half dozen levels of walkways that peaked with the control center at the top.

"It appears to be empty," the captain said. But Rei was on alert and suddenly a robot leaped out from the walkway directly above them. It was tall and thin with little in the way of an exterior shell. Its body bended and contorted as it scurried over to them. It had a face that was only a vague echo of a human face; a mouth that was just a gaping hole and red glowing eyes. It slashed at the group knocking the captain back several meters onto his back. Rei was firing furiously at it but it was fast and ducked every shot. With Rei's shots barely a distraction it made a sweep with a clawed arm toward Kou and again she flashed to her nightmare. But Chigusa pushed Kou out of the way and the claws scratched down her back.

Kou got up and checked on Chigusa while Rei finally began to furiously blast the robot in the face with his pistol. Chigusa was groaning and Kou saw that the claws had managed to slightly break through the back of her uniform but luckily she didn't seem to be bleeding much. Kou gave Chigusa her shoulder and pulled her up. Kou whispered a thank you in her ear and Chigusa looked at Kou and her blue-green eyes were filled with tears. Kou realized that Chigusa wasn't crying because of the pain of the scratches. These were tears of love brought on by nearly losing a friend.

"Kou, we have to complete the mission," Chigusa said. Kou and Chigusa began to make their way up the walkways as more robots began to pour in below. For a moment Kou looked back and saw Rei furiously blasting the robots back as the captain used his cybernetic arm to punch them. Kou was shocked by his ferocity. But they needed to focus on getting to the top. Luckily the robots seemed to be all below.

At last they arrived at the control console and Kou connected her data-pad to it and began to download information. Chigusa looked out for any possible robots while Kou focused on the download. It was all mostly information that didn't seem to mean much including lots of attack plans and commands. But finally something caught something she recognized. It was the name Matsuoka. Specifically a mention of Matsuoka Rin, her brother. And a great deal of references to their home faction.

"Hana-chan! Look!" Kou said. Chigusa turned around and looked at the screen.

"What? This can't be. If this is true... no. It can't be," Chigusa said.

"My brother and our faction are connected to the robots somehow," Kou said. The words were easier to say than she expected. Kou and Chigusa stood there in stunned silence while the date finished downloading. After a moment Rei and the captain showed up. Rei had been badly hurt. He was barely able to walk and had sustained multiple wounds to his torso.

"We need to get off this ship fast. Rei needs medical attention. Cadet Hanamura, are you okay?" the captain said.

"Yes. I'll be fine," she replied.

Everyone followed the captain as he helped Rei and made his way back to the shuttle. Kou was impressed that they had dealt with all the robots. But she hoped that Rei would be okay. She was fond of him.

The shuttle ride back was tense. Rei was losing a lot of blood quickly. There was a medic with them but he could only do so much. Kou hoped it would be enough to keep him alive until they made it back to the Iwatobi.

Once back Rei was rushed the med-bay. They again asked if Chigusa needed any medical help but she declined, preferring to take care of her back wound herself back in their cabin. Before heading back to the cabin they waited at the med-bay to make sure Rei would be alright. Nagisa also showed up looking terrified and crying. Kou held him for awhile and realized now that there was more to his relationship with Rei than she previously realized.

Finally the doctors revealed that Rei was going to make it and everyone was relieved. Kou and Chigusa said good night and headed back up to their cabin. Once inside Chigusa tore her uniform off and tried to put some ointment on her scratch. It was a little worse than Kou initially believed. Chigusa put her back to the bathroom mirror and struggled to get the ointment on. Finally Kou had enough and asked to help.

"There's no sense in struggling. And you saved my life. I owe you," Kou said. Kou put some of the ointment in her hand and spread it lightly over the scratches on her back. It went to work quickly and Chigusa moaned in relief as the pain quickly disappeared.

This was the first time Kou had touched Chigusa like this since she'd begun to work out. Kou wanted desperately to get a better feel of her rhomboid and latissimus dorsi muscles and she refrained out of politeness even if they looked very nice.

"Thank you," Chigusa said as she turned around to face Kou. Chigusa hugged Kou tightly and Kou was overcome with warm and she felt the strength in Chigusa's body. Chigusa slowly pulled away and went outside to put a tank-top and some shorts on, let her hair down (although even down in barely went to past her shoulders anymore) and sat down at their table. Kou changed as well into her bed clothes.

"I can't believe Rin is involved with the robots. I won't believe it," Kou said.

"He'll be arrested in the morning all the same," Chigusa said.

"I should be able to protect him," Kou said, tears filling her eyes. Chigusa moved toward her in sympathy. She put a hand on Kou's arm in affection.

"You can't protect him. We can only hope that if he is innocent they will find out and find out why his name was in the data."

Kou stood up to walk around. Chigusa followed her.

"What about you? You could've died today," Chigusa said.

"But you saved me," Kou said.

"Barely," Chigusa said. "And if I had lost you..." Chigusa began to cry. Kou was surprised at her friend's emotions. Chigusa wiped her eyes and added, "You're the only friend I've ever had. I guess no one else ever liked me."

Kou hugged Chigusa tightly. Without meaning to she found her hands grasping Chigusa's lower back. Slowly, Chigusa stopped crying and Kou started slowly and deeply rubbing the muscles in Chigusa's lower back. Chigusa let out a soft moan and Kou became warm and began to tremble a little. Kou started to pull away but she found herself face to face with Chigusa. Without really understanding why she started kissing Chigusa passionately.

Kou found she couldn't keep her hands from roaming all over Chigusa's upper body, even going so far as to caress her biceps. She stopped kissing her for one moment to plant some small kisses on her cheek then grabbed her rear and pulled her hard towards her and started kissing her mouth again.

Finally, she pushed Chigusa up against a wall and slid her right hand between Chigusa's legs, rubbing her vulva through her shorts. Chigusa moaned and threw her head back a little. Kou then slid her hand inside her shorts and found her clitoris which she began to slowly massage with a finger while Chigusa let out soft moans.

Slowly, Kou increased the speed by which she rubbed Chigusa's clitoris, added a second finger and changed the motion to be more circular. Chigusa leaned her head against Kou's left shoulder where she planted soft kisses. Kou maintained a steady motion as she felt Chigusa's body become tense and her legs begin to tighten together. At last Chigusa came and let out a loud and long moan. Chigusa was breathing heavily and still leaning into Kou's shoulder. Kou pulled away and then kissed Chigusa again.

"What was that for?" Chigusa asked.

"For being a good friend," Kou said. She kissed Chigusa's cheek and went to bed.


End file.
